Aerosolized inhalator dispenser



June 30, 1970 s, B N ET AL 3,517,667

AEROSOLIZED INHALATOR DISPENSER Filed Sept. 21, 19 67 27 INVENTCRS United States Patent 3,517,667 AEROSOLIZED INHALATOR DISPENSER Saul A. Babbin, Henrietta, and Alfred V. Mohr, Island Park, N.Y., assignors to Pennwalt Corporation, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Sept. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 669,627 Int. Cl. A61m 15/00, 11/00 U.S. Cl. 128-173 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tubular dispenser useful with a dispensing aerosol container has top, intermediate and bottom portions constructed to dispose the bottom and intermediate portions at an angle with respect to the top portion and to each other. An actuator in the intermediate portion has an upwardly-extending bore engaging the 'valve stem of an aerosol container in the top portion and communicating with an orifice by a passageway angularly disposed with respect to the upwardly-extending bore. The internal configuration of the device presents generally smooth curving surfaces to reduce air tubulance and promote smooth air flow around the container and help prevent coalescence of the atomized medicament on the sides of the device.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to aerosol dispensing devices that are useful for dispensing individual measured amounts of medicament-containing aerosol for inhalation therapy. The device includes a valved container within a dispenser and engaging an actuator that emits the aerosol material from the container into a delivery tubular portion of the device.

' Description of the prior art A prior U.S. patent describes and claims an aerosolized inhalator dispenser that is an improvement over the prior devices that aspirated a solution containing a medicament. The device of that patent has a construction such that the aerosol container is mounted on one open end of that device in a manner to engage the integral actuator for emiting aerosol product from the container into a delivery tube that constitutes another open end portion of the device. By using the device or apparatus of that patent and an aerosol container with a metered valve, such as disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,721,010, a single dosage of aerosol product can be delivered to the delivery tube for passage into the mouth of the patient without the latter receiving drops of unvaporized aerosol propellant.

The various advantages of the dispensing apparatus of the patent are stated in that patent. Although it mentions that the hollow cylindrical delivery tube may be curved, a curved delivery tube is not preferred because the discharged aerosol can impinge on the walls of that tube. This results in the deposition on the walls of a significant amount of the medicament by a single operation of the valve that releases a controled volume of aerosol product from the container. Such deposition of medicament on the curved Walls of the delivery tube decreases the amount of medicament received by the patient. Obviously such is undesirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The article of the present invention comprises a tubular article of particular configuration with an integral actuator for an aerosol container with which the article is used to dispense the contents of the container. The article of the present invention also includes the tubular article with the aerosol container in place as described below.

This tubular article has top, intermediate and bottom portions. The top portion has vertical walls. At least its front segment is a segment of a cylindrical wall. The bottom portion is a toroidal segment, although the wall thickness may increase adjacent its distal end toward the proximal end, i.e., the end having a juncture with the intermediate portion. Such thickness increase is at least in the front segment and generally occurs by the change of the outer surface of the front segment from the radius of curvature at the distal end toward the juncture with the front segment of the intermediate portion. This change provides a smooth transition in the outer surface from the toroidal to the linear tubular top portion.

The tubular article of the invention has a valve actuator that is integral with the tubular article. The actuator extends forwardly from the rear wall segment of the intermediate portion. This actuator has a vertical bore to receive a valve stem of an aerosol container and has an orifice facing downwardly and forwardly. The orifice communicates with the vertical bore by a passageway angularly disposed with respect to the vertical bore. The angle between the axis of this passageway and the axis of the vertical bore is substantially greater than 90 degrees (the angle between the axis of the delivery tube and the axis of the bore in the actuator that receives the valve stem of the aerosol dispensing apparatus of the patent.

The top portion of the tubular article of the present invention has a cross section such as to permit the introduction of a cylindrical aerosol container in it while providing a space between the top portion and the cylindrical container for the ingress of air that can flow down to, around and past the actuator in the intermediate portion and then out the bottom portion of the tubular article.

Although the tubular article with the aersol container in the top portion is utilized in a manner such that the longitudinal axis of the top portion is inclined, the foregoing description and the description that follows will assume that the tubular article of the invention has the longti'udinal axis of the top portion in the vertical position. This will provide a basic reference for other limitations of the tubular article. Similarly, for a point of reference, the angular dispositions of the intermediate portion and the bottom portion with respect to the top portion are such that the bottom portion extends forwardly of the top portion. Each portion of the tubular article has a front segment, a rear segment and two side segments. Obviously, the so-called front segments of the intermediate portion and especially of the bottom portion are above their rear segments, when the article is positioned so that the axis of the top segment is vertical. It is also obvious that the so-called front segment of the bottom portion is only above and not in front of the socalled rear segment of the bottom'portion, when the article is utilized to dispense medicament-containment aerosol from a container in the top portion. During such use, the longitudinal axis of the container and that of the top portion are inclined upwardly and rearwardly. The latter disposition of the dispensing article can be considered as being obtained by pivoting the tubular article from its referenced disposition about an axis normal to a central plane that passes on through all three portions intermediate the side segments of those portions.

The article of this invention has the numerous advantages that are disclosed in the patent as advantages for its apparatus over prior dispensing devices. Such advantages include a construction such that the undesirable introduction of unvaporized liquid propellant into the mouth of the user is precluded.

The article of the present invention with the aerosol container in its top portion provides a compact package in which the container is protected against damage. In the event there is a breakage of the aerosol container, if made of some frangible material such as glass, the top portion of the tubular article prevents fragments of the broken container from flying into the direction of the eyes of the user.

The article of the invention can retain the container during shipment and storage and between the applications of medicament. This combination is more conveniently handled and is more compact for storage in a pocket or purse than the apparatus of the patent. The actuator of the apparatus of that patent has the delivery tube at a right angle to the aerosol container. Because the dispensing article of the present invention has an actuator with its orifice at an angle substantially greater than 90 degrees relative to the bore of the actuator that receives the valve stem of the container, because the bottom portion of the dispensing article is a toroidal segment, and because of the location of the mounting of the actuator on the intermediate portion of the tubular article, the overall dimensions of the dispensing article, including the container, is less than the overall space occupied by the assembly of the dispensing apparatus and aerosol container of that patent.

It is indicated in the patent that the combination of the dispensing apparatus and the aerosol container is disassembled before placing them in a pocket or a purse. This requires assembly before use and disassembly after use. A later modification of the apparatus of that patent is in use. The modified apparatus has an extension of the skirt of the actuator so as to provide a sheath for the container. This eliminates the previous requirement to disassembly before placing the dispensing apparatus and the container in a pocket or purse. However, this modification has a larger space requirement than the assembly of the present invention.

In the utilization of inhalators to provide a measured dosage of medicament, the aerosol container is inverted. As a result, when using an assembly, such as described in US. Pat. No. 3,001,524, it is required that its delivery tube be greater than the minimum length for effective volatilization of liquid propellant. This is because in the design of the dispensing product one must consider that distance from the end of the delivery tube, that is placed in the mouth of the user, to the aerosol container must be substantially greater than the forward extension of the longest nose of prospective users. Otherwise, upon the insertion of the open end of the delivery tube into the mouth, the aerosol container may hit and press against the nose of the user. The requisite amount of insertion may be prevented by such contact between the nose and the container.

The dispensing apparatus of the present method does not have this disadvantage. The top portion of the dispensing article, that has the aerosol container in it, is angularly disposed during use so that the length of the nose of the user is not a substantial factor, if at all, in determining the length required for the delivery tube, that is, the bottom portion of the dispensing article of the present invention. It is not required for use that the aerosol container be vertical. It can be tilted.

The assembly of the dispensing article and the container of the present invention is easy to use, is not awkard and is not cumbersome as regards its portability.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The preferred embodiment of the dispensing apparatus of the present invention, including the aerosol container, is presented in the attached sheet of drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the dispensing article without the aerosol container;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the dispensing article with the aerosol container in place;

FIG. 3 is a front elevation of the dispensing article;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the dispensing article;

FIG. .5 is a cross section of the dispensing article taken along the line 5-5 with the aerosol container in place; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross section of the dispensing article, as viewed in FIG. 5, but with the aerosol container depressed within the dispensing article to emit a measured amount of medicament.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment of the aerosolized inhalator dispenser of the present invention is illustrated by the drawings and includes a tubular article of the invention generally indicated at 11 and an aerosol container generally indicated at 12 (FIGS. 5 and 6). The container 12 has a cap 13 which supports inside container 12 a metering valve (not shown) from which upwardly extends a valve stem 14.

The tubular article 11 has a top portion, an intermediate portion, and a bottom portion generally indicated at 15, 16, and 17, respectively. Each of portions 15, 1'6, and 17 has a front wall segment, a rear wall segment, and a pair of side wall segments. For top portion 15 these are segments 18, 19', and 20 and 21, respectively. For intermediate portion 16 these are segments 22, 23, and 24 and 25, respectively. For bottom portion 17 these are segments 26, 27, and 28 and 29, respectively.

The container 12 is in top portion 15 of tubular article 11. The valve stem 14 extends into a vertical bore 30 of a valve actuator generally indicated at 31. The valve actuator 31 is mounted on and integral with the rear wall segment 23 of intermediate portion 16.

The aerosol container 12 is cylindrical in shape but the cross section of top portion 15 of article 11 is not cylindrical. The interior configuration of top portion 15 is seen in FIG. 1. The top portion 15 has straight rear wall segment 19 and straight side wall segments 20 and 21. However, front wall segment 18 constitutes a cylindrical segment.

The interior surface of front wall segment 18 has a radius slightly larger than the radius of cylindrical container 12. The distance between the interior facing wall segments 20 and 21 is about twice the radius of curvautre of front wall segment 18. However, the distance from the center for the radius of curvature of the interior surface of front wall segment 18 to interior surface of rear wall surface 19 is substantially greater than that radius of curvature. A central vertical rib 32 extends forwardly fromthe rear wall segment 19. The front or distal edge of rib 32 is tangential to a cylindrical surface that would be defined by a continuation of the cylindrical front wall segment 18. In other words, this front surface of rib 32 is spaced from the center of curvature for the inner surface of front wall segment 18 by a distance equal to that radius of curvature.

The foregoing construction prevents substantial wobbling of container 12 within top portion 15 of article 11, because the movement of the bottom of container 12 in any direction normal to the longitudinal axis of container 12 is limited by rib 32, side wall segment 21 or front wall segment 18. This construction prevents an inadvertent wobbling action that would be sufiicient to move valve stem 14 out of bore 30 in which it is frictionally and slidably disposed.

It was mentioned above that the cross section of top portion 15 has fiat wall segments 19', 20, and 21. This is true with respect to each of side wall segments 20 and 21 from top to bottom. They are vertical walls that are parallel to each other. The flatness of rear wall seg ment 19 is in a direction normal to wall segments 20 and 21. Only the top part of rear wall segment 19 is flat in a vertical direction. As seen in FIG. 5, the bottom part of rear wall segment 19 is curved in a vertical plane that extends from the front to the back of article 11. It constitutes a continuation of curved rear wall segments 27 and 23 of bottom portion 17 and intermediate portion 16. Of course, the curvature of the bottom part of rear wall segment 19 is related to top portion 15 so as to provide a smooth transition into the flatness in a vertical direction of the top part of rear wall segment 19. This curvature downwardly and forwardly for the bottom part of rear wall segment 19 of top portion 15 results in a decrease in the thickness of rib 32 so that it disappears at its juncture with the curved inner surface of the bottom part of rear wall segment 19 below the lowermost position of cap 13 of container 12 during the use of the dispenser of the invention, as described later.

The rear wall segment 23 of intermediate portion 16 has an outer surface that is flat, as in the case of rear wall segment 19 but the width of this flatness is in its central portion. That width decreases in the downward direction. This is because side wall segments 24 and 25 provide transition between flat wall segments 20 and 21 and curved side wall segments 28 and 29 of bottom portion 17.

The outer surface of front wall segment 22 is curved with a radius of curvature at its lower end equal to that of front wall segment 26 but the top part of that outer surface is such as to provide a transition to the outer surface of vertical front wall seiment 18. The inner surface of the top part of front wall segment 22 is a continuation of the cylindrical inner surface of front wall segment 18 of top portion 15 of article 11, whereas the bottom part of this inner surface of front wall segment 22 is a continuation of the inner curved surface of front wall segment 26 of bottom portion 17. This construction results in a thicker portion for front wall segment 22 at the juncture between its top and bottom parts, as seen in FIG. 5. Because of this change in configuration of the inner surface of intermediate portion 16, the inner surface of portion 16 has a corner or juncture between side wall segment 24 and rear wall segment 23- and similarly between side wall segment 25 and rear Wall segment 23 that slopes inwardly with a downward increase in its width. These sloping or inclined wall inner surface portions 38 and 39 provide a desirable direction of flow of air that is pulled into top portion 15 between container 12 and especially between container 12 and rear wall segment 19'. This improved flow assures that the aerosol product, when released from container 12 through actuator 31, will have a complete volatilization of its propellant to avoid thereby the disadvantages mentioned later.

The actuator 31 is mounted on and integral with rear wall segment 23 where the latter is substantially forward of rear wall segment 19. This also insures that the curved wall segment 23 on opposite sides of actuator 31 provides a flow of air downwardly and forwardly and around actuator 31. This construction also minimizes the dimensions required for actuator 31. Its forward dimension to place vertical bore 30 in alignment with valve stem 14 is minimized. Furthermore, this decrease in size of actuator 31 because of the configuration of interior portion 16, and especially its rear wall segment 23, permits the use of integral central webs 40 and 41 that provide part of the joining of actuator 31 to rear wall segment 23. This reduces weight, cost, etc. of the article.

The vertical bore 30 of actuator 31 is outwardly flared at its top portion (as seen in FIG. 5) while the bottom portion has a pair of diagonally opposite spaced-apart shoulders 42 to provide a narrower portion of bore 30 between them which communicates with a passageway 43. The longitudinal axis of passageway 43 is angularly disposed with respect to the longitudinal axis of vertical bore 30. The angle between these two axes is substantially greater than 90 degrees. In this preferred embodiment it 6 is 120 degrees. The passageway 43 is flared at its outer end to provide an orifice 44.

The bottom portion 17 of article 11 is a toroidal wall segment and a cross section in this preferred embodiment is an ellipse with its major axis extending between side wall segments 28 and 29 and its minor axis extending between front and rear wall segments 26 and 27.

The length of bottom portion 17, with its toroidal configuration, is limited to less than a length that when directing the spray from orifice 44 there will be aerosol product impinged on any of the Wall segments of bottom portion 17 of article 11. There is a fair degree of latitude as regards this suitable length. It should be suflicient to volatilize completely the propellant in accordance with the teaching of US. Pat. No. 3,001,524. The orifice 44 is located substantially at the juncture of axes of ellipse extended beyond the toroidal segment that constitutes bottom portion 17.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 5, the top of top portion 11 is downwardly inclined from front to rear so as the rear of this bottom of container 12 extends further above article 11 than its front.

In the use of article 11 it is held between the thumb and the middle finger so that the front wall segment 15 is upwardly inclined away from the face of the user when bottom portion 17 is partially inserted into the mouth of the user of the dispenser. The index finger of that hand is placed on top of the bottom of container 12. While article 11 is held somewhat firmly in place and the user inhales through the mouth, the index finger is pressed downwardly to move container 12. There is relative movement between valve stem 14 and container 12, so that a measured quantity of aerosolized medicament is released through valve stem 14 through bore 30, passageway 43 and orifice 44. This provides a spray of released aerosolized medicament into the bottom part of tubular article 11 and thus into the mouth of the user. At the same time the inhalation through the mouth pulls air through tubular article 11, between it and container 12, for admixture with the released aerosolized medicament for this desired volatilization of the aerosol propellant.

The index finger adjacent its distal end would contact the top of rear wall segment 19 before the full downward movement of container 12 by that finger, if the top of article 11 were not inclined as mentioned above. To further permit the necessary downward movement of container 12 by the force applied by the index finger to the full required extent, the top part of rear wall segment 19 has a cutout portion 50, as seen in FIG. 4, to provide an arcuate recess.

This combination of the inclination of a downward and rearward direction of the top edge of article 11 and the arcuate recess of rear wall segment 19 permits the minimization of the amount by which container 12 is required to extend above article 11 before relative movement during use. As a matter of fact, the operation is such that this extension of container above article 11 may be eliminated by a greater length of top portion 15, because the cutout portion 50 permits unhampered movement of the index finger to move container 12 and its valve relative to valve stem 14 that abuts shoulders 42 and 43 to release aerosol medicament.

The container 12 is desirably slightly above the top of article 11 so that, for removal, the tips of the fingers are placed at the juncture of the front and side Wall segments and the bottom and the thumb is placed against a greater height of the rear wall segment. Thus, the preferred construction of article 11 permits replacement of container 12 by another container in an easy or facile manner. At the same time container 12 in article 11 is almost completely surrounded by top portion 15 and protects it and valve stem 14 against breakage and prevents inadvertent operation of the dispenser in a purse or pocket in which it is carried.

As mentioned above, the user of the dispenser holds article 11 between the thumb and the middle finger of one hand. To prevent any sliding or slipping of article 11 between these fingers during the application of a downward force by the index finger, the article of the present invention has a series of notches 52 in a vertical row, each extending horizontally when top portion 15 is vertically disposed. The notches 52 are along otherwise fiat side wall segments 20 and 21 and side wall segments 24 and 25, as seen in FIG. 2. Each notch is upwardly and inwardly inclined so as to provide ribs 53, as seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, to prevent such undesirable slipping action. I .The following are merely illustrative dimensions of the article in a preferred embodiment having a structure, as stated above. Of course, the main purpose is to present those illustrative dimensions which relate to bottom portion 17 and the radius curvature of front wall segment 18 and the maximum thickness of rib 32 at its top which insures an adequate air fiow into article 11 and pattern of flow for admixture with emitted aerosolized medicament. The article throughout has a wall thickness to provide the desired substantial rigidity. The illustrative outer dimension of the minor axis of the open end of bottom portion 17 is /6 inch where the wall thickness is 0.03 inch. The major axis is inch. 'Of course, this is also the major dimension of the article throughout its length. The distance from orifice 44 to the intersection of the major and minor axes at the bottom open end of portion 17 is only 1 /8 inches. This is less than the recommended length of the hollow cylindrical delivery tube of the dispenser of U.S. Pat. No. 3,001,524 where the air flow is essentially straight. However, the illustrative length sutficies. Of course, the arcuate dimension is greater.

The wall thickness of rear wall segment 19 is inch and the depth of thickness of rib 19 at its top portion is inch, while the radius of curvature of front wall segment 18 is inch. The radius of curvature of rear wall segment 23 is about 1.9 inch, while the radius of curvature of the curved portion of front wall segment 22 is only /2 inch. The cutout portion 50 has a radius of curvature of about /2 inch.

In this illustration of article 11 the dimension from the top of front wall segment 18 to the lowermost part of rear wall segment 27 is about 2 /2 inches. The dimension from Wall segment 19 to the lowermost part of front wall segment 26 is 1% inches.

Various materials can be used for article 11 which is desirably a single molded plastic article. It is preferred that the plastic be polyethylene, such as Super Dylan 6560. Super Dylan is a trademark used for its polyethylene products by Sinclair-Koppers Co. Super Dylan 6560 is a polyethylene with a melt index of 6. It is made by the low pressure Ziegler polymerization process.

The angular disposition in the preferred embodiment between the passageway and the bore of the actuator of the tubular article of the present invention is about 120 degrees, as mentioned above. There can be some variation from an angle of 120 degrees, but it will be obvious that the numerical value of such angle cannot be sufliciently smaller in value so that in effect the intermediate 1 portion of the tubular article is eliminated. In that case the bottom portion would be joined to the bottom part of the front wall segment of the top portion of the article.

-Then the actuator would be at a bottom end wall section of the resultant modified top portion. This low angular disposition-results in a dispenser such as disclosed and claimed (from a nornamental standpoint) in U.S. Design Pat. No. 207,143. .-The.angle may be greater than 120' degrees, but of course must be substantially less than 180 degrees, e.g., a maximum of about 145 degrees. Otherwise, to use the dispenser, with the aerosol upside down but tilted, it would be necessary to tilt the head back to an undesirable extent. Although the cross section of the top portion can be cylindrical, it is preferred that the cross section of the top portion be as described above. When the cross section is cylindrical, integral vertical ribs can extend inwardly from the cylindrical tubular portion that will have a substantially larger diameter than that of the aerosol container to insure sufiicient ingress of air.

Instead of using a cylindrical top portion having such ribs and with the substantially larger diameter, the tubular top portion, whether cylindrical or not, can be slightly larger than the cross section dimensions of the container. In such case, openings in one or more wall segments of intermediate portion 16 can be provided. These would be preferably, at least in rear wall segment 23, above orifice 44 of actuator 31. However, the use of one or more ribs is prefererd'because wall-openings may be closed by the fingers during use. This closing of the openings would be undesirable. It would p'reclu'de volatilization of propellant, etc. I

Adequate space for air ingress assures that the air is introduced to the intermediate portion of the tubular article in an easy flowing pattern to the space alongside and from somewhat rearwardly of the orifice of the actuator to the space forwardly of that orifice. This assures adequate mixing of the air with the aerosol product when the latter is emitted from the orifice. As a result, the propellant is vaporized to the desired extent so that unvaporized liquid propellant does not reach and thus irritate the delicate mucous membranes ofthe oral and nasal passages of the user of the dispensing article. As is well known, such conventional propellants as halogenated lower alkanes as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,868,691, as liquid provide this undesirable irritation.

The dispenser of the invention is useful to dispense aerosolized medicaments. Examples of such materials are disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pats. Nos. 2,868,691 and 3,014,844.

The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and of various modifications has been presented for the purpose of illustration and not necessarily by way of limitation of the present invention that is limited only by the claims that follow.

We claim:

1. A tubular dispenser, useful in combination with a dispensing aerosol container as an aerosolized inhalator dispenser having a valve stem that extends outwardly from the top of the container and that is open at its top end which comprises:

(1) a tubular article having top, intermediate and bottom portions, each having front, rear and side wall segments, wherein (a) said top portion is vertically disposed and has an inside surface. with a configuration such as to receive said aerosol container in inverted position and to prevent substantial wobbling of said container about said valve stem, with the inside surfaces of the front wall and both side wall segments and the upper part ofthe rear wall segment of the top portion extending vertically and with the lower part of the-rear wall segment being curved forwardly in a downward direction, the front wall segment of thetop portion being a wall se'gment'of a hollow cylinder and the upper part of the top wall portion of the rear wall segment being flat,

(b) said intermediate portion and said bottom portion .being angularly disposed in a forward direction with respect to thentop portion and with the bottom portion being similarly disposed with respect to the intermediate portion, and

(c) .said bottom portion being a toroidal segment, with the inside surfaces of the rear wall segments of the intermediate portion and the bottom portion being curved forwardly in a downward direction and the inside surface of at least the bottom part of the front Wall segment of the intermediate portion being curved forwardly in a downward direction, and

(d) the side wall segments of at least said top portion and said intermediate portion being flat and parallel to each other (e) said intermediate portion of said tubular article having the outer surface of its front wall segment curving downwardly and forwardly with a radius of curvature at its lower end equal to that of the front wall segment of the bottom portion but the top part of the outer surface of the front wall segment of the intermediate portion has a smaller radius of curvature than the rear wall segment of the intermediate portion to provide a transition to the vertical front wall segment of the top portion, and its rear wall segment curved downwardly and forwardly,

(2) a valve actuator in the tubular article and mounted on and integral with a wall segment of said intermediate portion and spaced from other wall segments of said intermediate portion, said valve actuator being entirely below the top portion of the tubular article, said valve actuator being mounted on the rear wall segment of the intermediate portion and having,

(a) a vertical bore to slidably receive said valve stem extending from said aerosol container to a limited depth,

(b) an orifice angularly disposed in a forward direction with respect to said bore, and

(c) a passageway communicating said orifice with said bore, said orifice having an extension of its longitudinal axis passing through said bottom portion and spaced from its walls.

(3) said tubular article having a vertical internal rib that is mounted on and integral with said rear wall segment of said top portion and that has its distal edge diametrically opposite the front wall segment and tangential throughout its length to the circle partially defined by the inner surface of said front wall segment of said top portion.

2. The tubular dispenser of claim 1 wherein the angle between the longitudinal axis of said orifice and the longitudinal axis of said bore is about 120 degrees.

3. The tubular dispenser of claim 2 wherein the cross section of said bottom portion of said tubular article is an ellipse.

4. The tubular dispenser of claim 3 wherein said front Wall segment of said intermediate portion of said article has for an inner surface a top part that is a continuation of the inner surface of the front wall segment of the upper portion and a curved bottom part that is a continuation of the curved inner surfaceof the front wall segment of the bottom portion of the tubular article.

5. An aerosolized inhalator dispenser which comprises:

(l) the tubular dispenser of claim 1; and

(2) a dispensing aerosol container having a cylindrical main body and including a valve stem that extends outwardly from the top of the container and that is open at its top end, said aerosol container being inverted and in said top portion of said tubular article with an end portion of said valve stem being frictionally disposed in said bore of said actuator, and

said tubular dispenser having for its front wall segment a radius of curvature somewhat greater than the radius of the cylindrical main body portion of said container.

6. The aerosolized inhalator dispenser of claim 5 wherein the angle between the longitudinal axis of said orifice and the longitudinal axis of said bore is about degrees.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 197,687 3/1964 Gurian et al. D9258 D. 207,143 3/ 1967 Goodwin D9-258 3,184,115 5/1965 Meshberg. 3,361,306 1/1968 Grim.

3,001,524 9/1961 Maison et al. 128208 XR 3,456,645 7/1969 Brock 128--208 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 632,312 1963 Belgium.

ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner P. E. SHAPIRO, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

